LOS ANGELES – Ten years after the untimely death of Aaliyah, her imprint hasn’t waned – despite resting on a small back catalog that never had a chance to develop.
The “street but sweet” brand of R&B she crafted, with the help of R. Kelly and strengthened by longtime collaborators/friends Missy Elliott and Timbaland, both defined and reinvented the sound of ’90s urban music. Her slinky dance moves, breathy falsetto, tomboyish silhouettes and innovative beats that flirted with a number of genres quickly awarded her the moniker the “Princess of R&B.”
When the singer born Aaliyah Dana Haughton died in a plane crash in the Bahamas 10 years ago Thursday, all fans were left with was a brief discography. Aaliyah purists have waited for additional music to surface; with the exception of a handful of tracks, there’s been nothing.
The singer’s death at age 22 came as she was having a breakout year that included her critically acclaimed eponymous third, and final, album and a budding film career. She had wrapped filming the video to the project’s second single, “Rock the Boat,” when she and eight others perished.
After her death, executives at her label, Blackground Records, told the Los Angeles Times that she had “recorded enough material for at least one more album.” Outside of “I Care 4 U,” a posthumous greatest-hits package featuring six previously unreleased songs, additional archived works are still untouched.
And the question of whether or not any will surface has yet to be answered.
